New Delhi:
At least four ministers were unhappy after the Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday. Gurudas Kamat and Veerappa Moily clearly could not hide their disappointment after new ministers were inducted into the Cabinet.
Gurudas Kamat, sources said was upset at not being given a Cabinet rank. He did not attend the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Kamat sent in his resignation letter asking the PM to relieve him of his "Ministerial responsibility", expressing a desire to work as an active Congress party worker.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, skipped the swearing-in ceremony as well to lobby for the post of President of Mumbai Cricket Association. Mr Deshmukh was shifted from Rural Development Ministry, and he will now head the Science and Technology and Earth sciences Ministry. Deshmukh, though, now wants to take over the reins of the prestigious Mumbai Cricket Association. Mr Dehsmukh called the Cabinet reshuffle a game of kho-kho.
Another Congressman, Srikant Jena, who is from Orissa, was also unhappy about not being given Cabinet rank. Mr Jena has been made Minister of State with Independent Charge of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Veerappa Moily was miffed after being removed from the Law Ministry. He clearly stated that "vested interests" had opposed his campaign for law reforms and had conspired to blame him for the government's legal setbacks.
"Whatever sin is committed by the administrative ministries, they will try to attach that to Law Ministry. It is the fault on the part of the administrative ministry, it has nothing to do with us. We are only the face in the court," he said. Mr Moily will take over as the new Corporate Affairs Minister. Moily even blamed the media for not looking into the work done by the Law Ministry.